Teams get in line for Battle of Savannah

Two clubs from Savannah will compete for berth in championship tournament.

Posted: Friday, April 20, 2001

Just because you don't have ice doesn't mean you can't play hockey.

This weekend, the Savannah Civic Center will play host to the East Coast Hockey Organization's Battle of Savannah 2001, and there will not be a drop of frozen water anywhere in sight.

The tournament is one of 13 regional qualifiers for in-line skating hockey teams competing for a trip to the ECHO Nationals line skating teams in five age divisions competing for a trip to the ECHO Nationals in Tallahassee, Fla., this summer. A total of 37 teams will be in Savannah for the three-day tournament, with the top four from each age group receiving an invitation to the national tournament.

IF YOU GO

What: East Coast Hockey Association Southeastern National Qualifier

Where: Savannah Civic Center

When: Play begins at 10 a.m. today

ECHO was born in October of 1999, and since then founder Bill Peare has grown the organization from an affiliate of the American Athletic Union and World Hockey Alliance into an entity that is sweeping through the Southeast and spreading to the north and west. He compared ECHO's enlargement to marketing a small company into a national conglomerate.

"First we have to conquer the East Coast. Once we do that, we can get bigger," said Peare, who manages a telemarketing call center in Jacksonville when he's not crusading for the expansion of in-line hockey. "You should never bite off more than you can chew. The biggest challenge I have is getting the name of ECHO out there - getting people to see who we are, what kind of tournaments we run and getting teams to want to come."

However, Peare said the response to the Battle of Savannah tournament is a sign that the popularity of in-line hockey has arrived in the Southeast. Only the first eight teams to apply were registered in each division, and Peare said all he could do was start a waiting list and patiently field calls asking him to expand the tournament.

"This has been the hottest tournament on the board," Peare said. "It's got a lot to do with where it's located, and there aren't many facilities we play in like (the Civic Center). It's just the atmosphere of walking into a place that big and seeing it's huge.

"The place almost looks like the National Hockey League," Peare added.

The tournament will feature home-grown entrants from two clubs, SuperGoose Sports Hockey League and Federation Warriors. The SuperGoose club has a team entered in each age bracket, while the Federation Warriors will enter a 14-under team comprised of players from Savannah and South Carolina's Lowcountry.

"It's a very addicting sport," said Greg Eng, founder of the SuperGoose league and coach for the 8-under and 10-under teams. "This tournament will show the interest in it and entertainment of it. You'll see team play and kids outfitted in great uniforms. It will be just as good as a basketball or soccer tournament."

Eng introduced his in-line hockey club more than three years ago and now boasts a membership of more than 300 young people between the ages of 8 and 17. He and three partners recently purchased the Skate Inn, a rollerskating rink, to convert it into an indoor sports complex that will host in-line skating, soccer and lacrosse.

"The added diversity will give kids an alternative to the major sports," said Eng, who also said ECHO will return next fall to play a qualifier tournament for the organization's winter championship. "I think when we get the new facility finished, in-line skating will rival other sports."